RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (KABC) — A Pomona High School basketball coach and his wife were among the three victims killed in a chain-reaction crash involving multiple vehicles, including several semitrucks, earlier this week on the 10 Freeway in Ontario.
The school confirmed the couple died in the Tuesday afternoon collision. They were identified as Pomona High Red Devils assistant basketball coach Clarence Nelson and his wife, Lisa. A post on the high school’s Facebook page read, “RIP Coach Nelson and his wife.”
Outside their home, flowers were delivered to a woman inside confirming she is related to Nelson but didn’t want to speak on camera.
The identity of the third person killed in the pileup has also not been released. Four others were hospitalized.
The semitruck driver, identified as a 21-year-old who was living in Yuba City, was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs and vehicular manslaughter.
“The hardest part is knowing that at least three of these individuals will not have a Christmas, will not make it home as we get into the holiday season,” said Officer Rodrigo Jimenez, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.
On Thursday, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh, the semitruck driver accused of causing the eight-vehicle chain-reaction.
Singh was charged with three counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of DUI causing injury. The drug allegedly involved was not specified by authorities.
The DA’s office says eyewitnesses and dashcam video show Singh traveling at a high speed of rate into stopped traffic along the westbound 10 Freeway in Ontario, causing a chain reaction crash. Eyewitness News obtained dashcam video of the crash.
The Department of Homeland Security also issued an immigration arrest detainer on Singh, who they say entered the U.S. illegally from India in 2022.
According to Department of Motor Vehicles records, Singh did have a valid commercial driver’s license to operate a semitruck.
“Our understanding is he had a valid commercial driver’s license, and we are going to find out,” acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said. “We’re going to do an investigation to understand if he committed fraud to get it or if someone at the DMV helped him get it.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office is pushing back on claims that California somehow allowed Singh to obtain a license, saying the state “does not determine commercial driver’s license eligibility.”
“The FEDERAL government approved and renewed this individual’s FEDERAL employment authorization multiple times – which allowed him to obtain a commercial driver’s license in accordance with FEDERAL law,” the governor’s press office said in a post on X.
According to the California State Transportation Agency, it says Singh was issued a federal work authorization until 2030, and Singh’s commercial driver’s license is a federal REAL ID, which he was “entitled to receive given the federal government’s confirmation of his legal status.”
Singh is due in court Friday. He is currently being held on no bail.
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